Studio Banana TV interviews the architecture duo Cruz-Ortiz, authors of the Rijksmuseum renovation in Amsterdam.
The construction of a new building to house the restoration workshops is part of the operation for renovation and expansion of the Rijksmuseum (Dutch National Museum in Amsterdam). In fact, these uses were previously carried out in the main building of the museum and their removal from it is what will allow expansion of the museum surface area dedicated to exhibiting collections.
The building must also house another institution, the Instituut Collectie Nederland (ICN) (The Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage), whose program is smaller in surface area but very similar in terms of uses to that of the museum itself.
The diversity of the works of art and decorative objects that are subjected to restoration here has required including many different workshops, both in size and in their specific needs.
The location
The building was constructed on a lot situated to the south of the Rijksmuseum, opposite to and on the Museumplein side of the street, between Hobbemastraat street to the north and Honthorststraat street to the south, and surrounded to the east and west by isolated buildings that prevent a continuous perception of the new construction.
The lot was already occupied by an early 20th century building designed by Cuypers, the same architect as in the Museum, but housed a different institution, the Veiligheidsinstituut (Safety Institute), an institution dedicated to studying safety measures at work, probably a pioneering use in its time.
The original building was composed of an entrance and reception building of a nearly domestic character, which we have come to call La Villa, and a series of workshops of more uncertain design that were used for materials testing. The duality of the original project and the widely varying quality of its parts lead to proposing demolition of the workshop sections and maintenance of La Villa, which today functions again as the main entrance.
The project
The workshops are grouped into two similar building sections, separated from each other by an area of lower height that was required by urban planning regulations for the area. These two sections are connected with what we call La Villa –the part that has been maintained of the Veiligheidinstituut— which still concentrates the uses of reception, administration, canteen for employees, etc.
The new building literally merges with the old one through the use of similar brick and avoiding emphasizing any juxtaposition or contrast between the two parts.
It was also sought for the building to have an highly recognizable silhouette so it could be easily identified from Museumplein square. As a result, a jagged profile starts in La Villa, extends toward the south across the sawtooth pattern of the roof, falls and then rises again until reaching Honthorststraat street, where the building offers a façade which, despite being in the rear, is no less significant.
The northern light
The only requirement common to all the restoration workshops was that they must only open toward the north. This requirement determines the design of the entire building, from the sawtooth pattern of the roof under which the painting workshops are located to the lateral facades to the east and west, where the same mechanism is resorted to as that used so often on many seaside constructions to provide a typically meager view towards the sea. The attempt to redeem this mechanism from its worn-out image, achieve a sufficiently recognizable silhouette of the building and merge the new building with the existing one without resorting to contrast were the main guidelines of this project.
Interview by Studio Banana TV. Translation by Harold Ortiz.
